Yes, another ugly game for the Chicago Bears today, but this time, they couldn’t eke out a win. And it wasn’t from a lack of opportunities.

Where to begin?

The Washington Redskins beat the Chicago Bears 17 to 14 in front of members of the Bears’ beloved 1985 Super Bowl team. The Bears have now slipped to a 4-3 record and can’t take their bye week soon enough on Halloween.

The nail in the coffin for the Bears’ loss came in the fourth quarter with an interception by the Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall at the 3:31 mark. Cutler threw a pass down the right sideline to Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox, but Hall picked it off and secured the team’s three-point lead.

Hall was Cutler’s go-to receiver today with his NFL-record setting day of four interceptions. One of Hall’s picks resulted in a 92-yard touchdown run.

In the post-game interview, the Chicago Tribunereported that Cutler said with a smirk of his repeated throws to Hall, “I’ve played against (Hall) before. There’s no reason to shy away from him. That’s hard for me to say throwing four picks to the guy but I still think if we had to play him tomorrow I’d go after him every time.”

What?

The interceptions were one of many crimes committed by Cutler in the game but my favorite one was his third quarter fumble. Bears wide receiver Earl Bennett had a 48-yard catch and run. On the goal line, Cutler fumbled the ball and the Redskins recovered it. He then proceeded to throw three consecutive interceptions.

In the team’s new era of accountability where Bears coach Lovie Smith has benched players, I’m wondering why he doesn’t bench his quarterback for a series or two in a game when he’s not performing? At one point today, I thought the Bears ex-quarterback Rex Grossman (yes, THE Rex Grossman who couldn’t leave town fast enough at the end of his Bears’ tenure), who was standing across the field in a Redskins uniform, could have come in for Cutler and perhaps done better job for his old team.

Once again the Bears defense and special teams were able to get points on the board. In the first quarter, Bears cornerback D.J. Moore had a 54-yard reception from a turnover and put the home team on the board. He almost had a second touchdown but because of a delay of game penalty by the Redskins, the points were wiped off the board. Daniel Manning had an interception that kept the Bears alive, 14-10.

Additional defensive stars for the Bears’ included Pisa Tinoisamoa with three tackles; Israel Idonije had a sack and two batted passes and Brian Iwuh had two tackles for a loss, one sack and a forced fumble. For the day, the Bears’ defense forced three turnovers and held the Redskins to one offensive touchdown.

Where has Julius Peppers been the last two weeks?

The Redskins new quarterback Donovan McNabb did not exactly have a stellar day. He completed 17 passes on 32 attempts for 200 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked twice by the Bears and had a 56.8 quarterback rating.

After the team’s bye week, the Bears will return to play on November 7 against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto. Let’s hope they can fix some problems in the next two weeks and finally get a win. The second half of their season is going to be tough.